Flexible footwear



Feb. 16, 1954 s. ISRAEL FLEXIBLE FOOTWEAR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. '7, 1951 INVENTOR Sidney Israel BY gj ge g ATTOR Y Feb. 16, 1954 s. ISRAEL FLEXIBLE FOOTWEAR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 7, 1951 INVENTOR agsidney Israel ATTORNEY Feb. 16, 1954 s. ISRAEL 2,669,036

FLEXIBLE FOOTWEAR Filed Aug. 7, 195i s Sheets-Sheet s Fig. H.

37 36 26 25 33 23 INVENTOR Sidney Israel Fig. \2. B (MM ATTORN Y Patented Feb. 16, 1 9 54 UNITED I STAT-ES PATENT OFFICE FLEXIBLE FOOTWEAR Sidney Israel, Brooklyn, N. Y. 6 Application August 7, 1951, Serial No. 240,651

1 Claim. (01. ire-1 1.5)

This inventionrelates to footwear, of the type known .as clogs, and more specifically,- itrelates to clogs of rigid material'that are hereby made flexible for ease and comfort of wearing.

The clogs-or sandals that are known today are used generally for beachwear and for. this purposeare made from inexpensive rigid materials such-as wood or cork. They comprise asole member shaped to fit the foot together with such means as canvas straps for securing the sole portion to the-foot of the wearer. As known today, they are extremelyuncomfortable as they are not yieldable with the foot andare thus difiicult to wear. However, as they represent a fairly expenda-ble piece of footwear, and one which is subs jeotto much sand and water damage, they must be capable of being manufactured at as low a cost as possible. In terms of todays costs, this means that they must-be made with as few parts as possible, and must be capable of being-= assembled with as few labor operations as possible.

It is then an'object of this invention to furnish a clog which will be of rigid material and yet will beable to flexwith the foot w-hen worn. lit-is an'object to provide a rigid clog which will beheld togetherbya flexible hinge. It -is a further object-to providea unitary resilient piece that will be simultaneously a hinge to render the clog flexible as well as an upper portion-to hold the clog on the foot. It is another object to develop-all of'- the above with a minimum of parts as wellas a minimum of assembly operations. These and" other objects will be shown as this specification proceeds.

Inv summary, this invention proposes to attain these objects by providinga rigid clog divided into two sections by-a substantially vertical transverse out. Each section is provided with a-horizontal slit adapted to accommodate a resilient material to hold the sections together. The resilient material further continues around the upper section of the foot to act as a means for holding the clog to the foot, together with a further portion of the same material to act as a heel strap or toe strap to hold the clog firmly to the foot.

With this invention, there is provided a wooden clog roughly shaped to accommodate the foot of the wearer, which clog is divided into two sections, for ease of description, called the toe section and the heel section.

The accompanying drawings are now referred to for specific embodiments of the invention.

This description is intended to be illustrative 2,. only, andis not to :be deemed limiting, as the scope. of the invention. should be determined from the scope of the appended claim, andits disclosed equivalents.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is aperspective view showing the separate hinge, heel strap and arch strap in position.

Figure 2 showsan exploded view of the parts comprising Figure 1, while Fig.3 shows the mannerof ..assembly.

Figure 4 shows theheel and arch straps slipped into place withthehinge ready for assembly.

Figurefi isa perspective view showing the heel strap, hinge, and arch strap as :an. integral unit.

Figure .6- shows a top view of the integral unit used in Figure .5.

Figure *2 is a :sideview of the clog with the integralunit shown .in relative position for assembly.

Figures 8 and 9 are cutaway views showing the manner of assembling theolog.

Figure .10.shows a side: view of the assembly shownzinFigures 5, ,6, 7, 8, and 9.

Figures :lland 12 show .a further embodiment invwhich the beadis on the outer extremity of the strap.

More particularly, referring to Figures 1., 2, 3,v 4, 5, 7, 10 iand12, in the drawings, the clog 20 isvdivided into two sections, namely toe section 2i andzheelfsectioufl. The division into two partsismadeaby taking .asolid clog and making a \transversecut'across the clog. at the instep, or narrowest part of the piece. The toe section.2:i comprises side 24 and rearmost side 29, formediromthe transverse out." Inset into toe section J2l is cushion 23 which is a narrow piece of :serrated rubber which is set into the sole of toe portion.21,but which extends or projects fromthe sole lportion sothatit will make contact with the ground and thus furnish a soft andquietwalka l The transverse out between the sections is defined by the rearmost side 29 and '25 for the toe section, and forward side 30 and 26 for the heel section. Midway in each section of the clog there is furnished a horizontal slot 36 and 36a into which the hinge is slipped to hold the two sections together. At some point in the horizontal slot 36 there is provided a drilled hole which is to be wider in cross-section than the slot 36. This widened portion or drilled hole 33 is in the toe section, and drilled hole 31 is in the heel section. Into each of these drilled holes, the beads 34 and 38 of the hinge must slip. Since 3 they are wider than the slot they cannot slip out when the shoe is flexed, and thus serve to hold the hinge in place. Sidewise slippage of the hinge and beads is prevented by providing a snug fit of the hinge in the slot '36. To hold the clog on the foot of the wearer, several embodiments are provided, all stemming from a similar structure employed in the clog. Specifically, the slot 38 in the heel section is extended a short distance further than is necessary for the hinge, and this extra length of slot is used to contain the strap which will pass around the heel of the foot. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the strap 32 is shown as a separate piece, not connected to the hinge 35 with its beads 34 and 38. The fore part of the clog 20 is held onto the foot by means of the separate strap 3|. This strap fits into slot 40 in the toesecbe made are not part of this invention, but will be satisfied if the clog is of a fairly rigid material such as wood, cork or plastic, while the hinge and straps should be a flexible resilient material such as rubber or canvas with 2. rolled edge.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 212,951, filed February 27, 1951, now abandoned.

What is claimed is:

An article of footwear comprising a sole of inflexible material comprising a toe member and a heel member positioned in closely spaced relationshipiwith each, the toe member being of length sufficient to extend to a rearward edge substantially in the center of the shank of the sole, a substantially horizontal transverse slot tion, which slot is a continuation of slot-3611p In assembling this embodiment, the separate toe strap 3| is slid into its slot, heel strap 32 is slid into its slot, and then the hinge is slid into the remaining portions of the slot and thus complete the assembly, in a series of fast operations resulting in a self-containing unit requiring no gluing, nailing, or other finishing.

Another embodiment is that shown in Figures 5 through 10 wherein the heel strap, the arch strap, and the hinge are all molded from one piece of material. In these figures, the arch strap 50 is a wide band of resilient material which is of sufficient length to act as the arch band and also continue around to act as the hinge. The ends 56 and 51 respectively are fitted into the slots 36 and 36a to hold the toe and heel sections together. Beads 5| and 52 are adapted to fit into drilled holes 33 and 31. The heel strap 60 is molded as a unitary piece with the hinge and arch strap, and is connected to these pieces at the ends or at the part which is inserted into the slits of the clog.

A further embodiment is shown in Figures 11 and 12 wherein the bead 16 which is needed to hold the hinge in place is molded on the outside edge of the unitary piece 10. By being molded in this fashion, the drilled hole 31 may be located at the end of the slit 36 in the heel section 22.

It should be noted that if the arch strap is formed from a wide piece of material as shown in Figure 6 or 11, then the vertical transverse slit separating the clog into two sections should best be located substantially at the shank of the clog, so that it falls at the narrowest point on the clog. This can be seen in Figure 3. By providing the cut at this point, the heelward portion of the arch strap will be higher and thus accommodate the relatively high arch portion of the foot, while the forward portion of the strap will be much lower, and thus fit more snugly over the lower forward portion of the foot adjacent the toes.

The materials of which this assembly may in the toe member extending forward from the horizontal transverse slot in the heel member extending rearwardly from the forward edge and located so as to be aligned with the corresponding slot of the toe member when positioned in close relationship thereto, a short transverse section of the slot being of diameter significantly greater than the remaining portions of the slot so as to contain therein a beaded hinge; a single belt adapted to act simultaneously as a hinge, a heel strap means and an instep strap, said belt comprising a thin flexible elastic strap of width sufficient to fit snugly into the horizontal slots of the heel and toe members and of length sufficient both to loop over a foot placed on said members and further to fit into the horizontal slots on both sides thereof so as to act as a hinge, the strap having at least two raised beads extending along its length on each edge thereof, said beads being positioned in the widened sections of the horizontal slots and of a size to fit snugly therein to secure the strap in the sole, and a heel securing strap integrally connected to the thin strap at either end thereof, said connection constituting the only connection of said heel strap to said hinge portion.

SIDNEY ISRAEL.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS France Jan. 11, 1943 

